Belt conveyer



c.:i s. www4` y BELT' convmxnnf,

'Filed Aug. 1o. 1925 wwwrun 1.5m

1 INYENTOR v BY ^ 1 HIS ATTO/mins Patented June 21, 1.927.

Unirse STATES CHARLES'S. WRAY, 0F ATLANTICKHIGHLANDS, NEW JERSEY.

Y V:anni: 4eoNvnYnRI YApplication led, August 10, ,19215. Serial No. 49,201,

Traveling belts supported on idlers if not constrained by lateral forces, have atendency to rmi in a rather unstable fashion,

that. is, to ride up on theidlers in onedir rection or another. In. inountingidlersfor such belts on brackets which are'permanently secured to the base, it is practically impossible as a kmat-ter of design, workman-v ship .and skill, to insure that the belt shall, run a true course. To meet this condition, it has become the practice to provide an inclined base on which the brackets are supported in aslightly tilted position s o asto throw the higher ends of the troughed-pulleys slightly outof line with their lower ends so as to set up lateral constraining forces on the belt. For instance, .in an idler having Vthree pulleys, if thel brackets are thus tilted, the outer ends of the two inclined pulleys are thrown out of line with their lower ends soY that both outside pulleys tend` to direct the belt towards .the center line. rlhese unbalanced but opposed forces serve eil'ectively to prevent the belt from creeping. However, this method has the disad-v vantage of introducing an unnecessary degree ot lost power and of giving in the in,

stallation only the roughest approximation er' the setting desired. Instead of *merelyV counteracting an unbalanced force on the belt, it is neccssaryto go further and intro-y duce two unbalanced but opposed forces which are superior to the one unbalanced y beenrto ytilt thesupporting brackets, b, d, as'z iorce which is sought to be corrected. Obviously, this practice-is not sound.

In accordance with the present invention,

it is proposed to mount 'such` pulleys offan idlerv as it is thought desirable kto provide. an angular adjustment for, whereby the axis.

of any such pulley may be swung more .or less to impress more or less counterforces on the belt. embodiment, it is proposed in a three-pulley troughingI idler to mount the end bearings for the inclined pulleys adjustably so that the bearings may be moved bodily to swing the axes et' such pulleys and thereby incline the pulleys to the center line 'of the belt.

ln addition to accomplishing the broad objects ot the invention stated herein, it is further proposedfto provide means which shall be or simple form for effecting the necessary adjustments. a

The invention will now be described with reference to a simple embodiment thereof,

thereto.

Stated inl relation to the simplest illustrated in the accompanying drawings,

wherein y lFigure l is a view showing a troughing idler having three pulleys, the inclined pulleysbeing journalled in adjustable bearings inaccordance with the invention, parts be. ing broken away to show'o'tlier details. Y

Figure 2 is a View in plan 'of the iidler, shown Vin Figure l, withvthe pulley at the left moved angularly. f Figure 3 isa fragmentary detail view in transverse? V'section throughy the supporting frames of one of the adjustable bearings.'y

l Figure 4 is a view in section through the frame shown inltigure andat right angles The invention isnot tofbe limited tovany particnlarform Vof idler or pulley; orto'the number thereof, or the nature ofthe brack? ets, base or bearings.' The accompanying drawings are merely illustrativeiofA a simple idler employingr three pulleys in troughing relation forjthe support "of a beltQl Asshown in Figure l, the base @has boted,thereonbrackets b for the center pulley c, and brackets d 'for the outer ends of the inclined rollse, these rolls` being journaled at their inner Vends in the brackets if desired, or in separate brackets. With an idlerv of the` character described, it'may be that the belt will ten'd to run out when the parts are assembled. ,To Vcounteract this tendency, one practice which hasgrown up has impress constraining lateral forces onvtheA belt and tend to throw towards the center.

Since these forces are opposed, the belt is y prevented from running` outof` line.. yNaturally, the imposition of such forces means loss of power. Further, no means for accomplishing a nice adjustment have ever. been provided. i

'In accordance with the present invention, itis vproposed to 'journal' the inner ends ot the inclined rolls e in such manner as to afford capacity for angulai- .movements in the planesot the respective rolls. For instance, the bearing boxes e at the inner ends ot these rolls are shown asof spherical form and journaled in splitV sockets by in the ico brackets b. The outer ends of the rolls are j ournaled in bearing boxes e2', which are slidably supported in elongated openings d lprovided therefor at the upper ends of the brackets CZ. A simple way of providing this mounting is to form the upper end of the bracket d with a groove (Z2 at the bottom of the elongated slot and to close the slot by a suitable cap d3, which may have a complementary groove Z4 therein, the bearing e2 fitting within the slot and traveling within the grooves d2, (Z4. Adjusting` screws 7t may extend loosely through openings in the overlyingL cap Z3 and be threaded through the bracket l and extend in opposite directions into the slot d and engage the bearing box e2, preferably at diametrical` points. From this description it will v be evident that through proper adjustment of the screws the bearing box c2 may be moved along the slot d in one di-rection or another, thereby swinging the rolls c angularly about their inner bearings e.

Figure 2, for instance, shows the left-hand pulley e swung angularly by movement of the bearing box e2.

The means described thus far are such as will permit the broad objects of the invention to be achieved, although the invention is not to be limited in its broader aspects to the particular. means. The method of operation should now be clear. Care in setting up the brackets, Z), (l, and the rolls therein need not be exercised. When all the parts are assembled on the base a and the belt operated along the pulleys, note will be taken lof the courserwhich it tends to run out on., At once it may be determined by inspection where a counterforce must be impressed on the belt to make it run .true. Either the left-hand pulley c or the righthand pulley e will accordingly be swung forwardly or rearwardly in relation to the travel of the belt, or both of these pulleys. will be swung slightly in the same or opposite directions until all of the forces impressed on the belt are exactly neutralized and its course is true. A very nice adjustment becomes possible by the illustrated means, since the course of the belt may be observed during the adjusting and the adjustment will; extend only to the point where the fo-rces are neutralized. The adjusting means are accessible at all times and all of the idlers may be equipped for adjustment or only a predetermined number thereof in an entire conveyer system. Ordinarily it will not be necessary to provide an adjustment for center pulley c, nor will it be necessary to swing both troughing idlers. The result secured,l however, is positive and etiiciency is achieved by making it unnecessary to impress undue restraining forces on the belt.

As indicated before, changes in details of the supportin-gnmeans for the pulleys and the adjustment may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

IV hat I claim is:

l. I'n an idler for belt conveyers, comprising a plurality of pulleys, means to move one of said pulleys angularly with respect to the course of the belt and the vertical plane of the transverse axis thereof.

2. In troughing idlers for belt conveyers, a plurality yof pulleys, means to support certain of the pulleys at an angle to the horizontal, and means to move one of said last named pulleys angularly with respect to the vertical plane of the transverse axis of the idler.

3. In troughing idlers, a plurality of pulleys, means to, ou-rnal the outer pulleys with capacity for swinging movements and adjustable means to swing said pulleys with respect to the vertical plane of the transverse axisof the idler.

el. In troughing idlers, troughing pulleys,

means to journal the inner endsof the troughing pulleys with capacity for swinging movements, means to hold the inner ends of said troughing pulleys against displacement, and adjustable means in which the outerv ends of said troughing pulleys are journaled, whereby such pulleys may be movedv angularly on their own axes and in the plane of the directionV of movement of the belt.

5. In an idler in combination with a base, a plurality of troughing pulleys, brackets in which said pulleys are journaled, means to secure the brackets xedl-y to the base and means to swing one of the troughijng pulleys angularly with respect to the plane of the brackets.

6. In combination with a troughing pulley, a bearingA box in which the end of the pulley is journaled, a bracket to support the bearing box and means to slide the bearing box in aV plurality of directions in the bracket.

7. In an idler, a horizontal pulley, brackets in which it is supported, inclined troughing idlers, brackets in which said troughing idlers are journaled and adjustable means to move the outer ends ofthe troughing idlers to move the pulleys angularly with respect to the vertical plane 'of the horizontal pulley.

This specification signed this 7th day of August, A. D. 1925.

CHAS. S. NVB-AY. 

